Common Name: Kaiser/Ikola

Found: Shallow Rocky Habitat
Diet: Herbivorous
Gender Differences: Monomorphic
Breeding: Maternal Mouthbrooder

Age: Unkown

Breeding Success: Finally have fry -- 19/10/2008
Temperament: Mild as Juveniles & Aggressive as adults

These guys are great! If you have never kept Tropheus before I will warn you now -- they are highly addictive.

They have personality plus and keep the tank looking busy. They will happily greet you every time you enter the vicinity of the tank and almost always try to convince you that they are hungry when in fact they are not.

I started with 16 German Tank Raised Ikola and that number dwindled down to eleven. Some would say that losses are inevitable with Tropheus and for that reason it is recommended to start with as large a group as possible. Some hobbyists will happily add more Tropheus (both adults and juveniles) to an existing colony to increase numbers after a loss and some would shoot you just for thinking about it as there is a common belief that this would only end in disaster. I can say that I have successfully added and removed fish from the colony with no ill effects whatsoever. 2 months ago I sold all the Ikola and purchased a group of Wild Caught adults. Last week I re-acquired my 11 Germans and some F1 adults/juvies. I added 31 fish in one go to the 19 Wilds bringing the total to 50 fish. The aggression was minimal due to the large number being added.

Tropheus should be fed sparingly on good quality food. I feed mine like clockwork twice a day and when I am away I make sure that their babysitter follows this same routine. I currently feed a variety of NLS pellets including Cichlid Formula, NLS Thera+ and OSI Spirulina flake.